Sex OK in the Sooner State?

So what’s up with Oklahoma? According to (highly reliable?) marriage statistics on yahoo.com this morning, the sexy Sooner State has something to brag about! Recent census data apparently reports that Oklahoma has the highest rate of people who have been married three times or more.

This got me to wondering. Something in the water? Hot women and irresistible men? A plethora of preachers? A preference for sanctioned sex sooner rather than later?

Might that be why it’s known as the “Sooner” state?

Natch, the report provided none of the back story, and that’s a shame. For those looking to ratchet up the remarriage research, it might be worth considering what the state of OK-affairs has to offer.

A few fun facts

I know that Oklahoma is the shapely state sitting north of Texas. I always loved the way it reminds me of a finger wagging in your face, as if to say “no, no, no – not that!” It also seems to point westward – you know – Go west, young man! (And dare I say, young woman…)

It turns out that:

• There are over 3.5 million inhabitants of Oklahoma
• Many well-known personalities hale from this beautiful state
• Of course, there’s the famous musical…
• Oklahoma’s Official Web Site is very informative, though I’m put off by guns (shotgun weddings? A clue?)
• A Google search on “sex in Oklahoma” will bring you to a list of “erotica and sex news“
• Sadly (for this reader), little of that news had to do with sex or erotica
• There was, however, one fascinating headline purporting that: “Genes may explain why children who live without dads have sex earlier.”

Now that one was a cunning and capricious conundrum – and an oxymoron. (Yes – get out your dictionaries. SATs are coming – help out the kiddos!)

Chasing down the data

Seriously – I tried the link to learn more, but it required that I register with the article news service, and I’m fresh out of creativity for yet another login password. But think about it – the headline makes NO sense whatsoever. Using genetics to explain behavior that has nothing possible to do with genetics? WTF?

There was also a titillating tidbit about a pioneer woman whose photographs verge on the erotic. But again, I couldn’t get to the actual story. Nonetheless, I pursued the topic feverishly, in search of pictorial proof.

Hmmm. Did wagon train trailblazers pose for daring daguerreotypes while crossing the country?

And what was considered erotic in the late 19th century as Oklahoma’s Trail of Tears was being settled?

Alas, I found little to put the O-face in OK’s hardy history.

Now the Europeans, on the other hand, were already quite adept at pioneering the world of photographic fantasy. Might we compare the two, and draw our own conclusions – corporeal, concupiscent, commercial and otherwise?

So much for sex and erotica in Oklahoma. As for multiple marriages? Still no clue… except maybe for that shotgun…

The real deal

Actually, my little foray into O-O-Oh-klahoma history reveals a multifaceted past that I was utterly ignorant of.

Check out this Oklahoma history page to see the breadth of cultural influences in the territory that was welcomed into statehood in 1907. It’s all quite interesting! There is a rich native American heritage, Spanish colonization in the 16th century, and a large African American population arriving post Civil War.

Multiple marriages anywhere and everywhere?

Booty calls were the topic of discussion this morning on the fun and funky Dadshouseblog, and one comment raised the issue of the average number of sex partners in our country. It was suggested that the figure might be 7 for men and 8.6 for women. I find that estimate a tad… unrealistic.

Perhaps it raises a set of questions that are broader than hotties in the heartland, regardless of your position on pre or post marital maneuvers.

My guess is that multiple marriages (and long wet spells) furnish fecund feeding grounds for a significant swell in sexual partners – among adults.

Not even taking into account time before marriage (and many marry at a later age than in earlier eras), the calculations are clear: if you’re single for five years between marriages, and you do date – aren’t you likely to hook up at least a few times each year? Couldn’t that make for 20 cohorts-in-coitus right there, or 10 at least, even if you simply seek a seasonal… ‘tidying up’ around the foundations?

Down and dirty

In fact, the Internet will provide some guidance on the average number of sexual partners for men, and the average number of sexual partners for women, though it appears the data on women is older and possibly less reliable. Better still – there is an Average Number of Sexual Partners Calculator – see how you stack up to your demographic group, should you dare to compare!

Of course, to get down and dirty into this research, it begs the issue of how you would determine such a number, and the voracity of the information any study participant might provide (remember the French-reported study on women who drink, and the correlation of wine, women and (presumably) song?)

• Would Generation Y exaggerate?
• Would post-divorce-but-sexually-active Boomers lowball?
• Would women conveniently forget a few tumbles in the hay or hot tub?
• Might macho men multiply by a bar-based-booty factor?
• All supposed steamy stats aside, many of us would enjoy one (monogamous) mate-for-hearts-and-parts; in our own OK state. You?

I do so love data with my daily plate of crazy. Any takers on updates for this sex study, or remarriage references with reliability?

© D A Wolf